The Brain

Lesions: removal or destruction of some part of the brain
-frontal lobotomy

Electroencephalogram:

• EEG
• detects brain waves through their electrical output
• used mainly in sleep research

Computerized axial tomography:

• CAT scan
• 3D x-ray of the brain
• good for tumor locating, but tells us nothing about function

Magnetic resonance imaging:

• MRI
• more detailed picture of brain using magnetic field to knock electrons off axis
• takes many still pictures and turns images into a movie like production 

Position emission tomography:

• PET scan
• measures how much of a chemical the brain is using (usually glucose consumption)

Pons

• located just above the medulla
• connects hindbrain with  midbrain and forebrain
• involved in facial expression

Forebrain:

• what makes us human
• largest part of the brain
• made up of thalamus, limbic system and cerebral cortex

Cerebral cortex:

• made of densely packed neurons we call "gray matter"
• glial cells: supported brain cells
• wrinkles are called fissures
• if you lay brain out it would be as big as a large pizza

Hemispheres: divided into two hemispheres

• contra lateral control: right controls left and vice versa
• left hemisphere: logic and sequential tasks
• right hemisphere: spatial and creative tasks

Frontal lobes: 

• abstract thought and emotional control
• contains motor cortex: sends signals to out body controlling muscle movements
• contains Broca's area: responsible for controlling muscles that produce speech
• damage to Broca's area is called Broca's aphasia: unable to make movements to talk

Parietal lobes: 

• contain sensory cortex: received incoming touch sensations from rest of the body
• most of the parietal lobes are made up association area

Association areas: any area not associated with receiving sensory information or coordinating muscle movements 

Occipital lobes:

• deals with vision
• contains visual cortex: interprets messages from our eyes into images we can understand

Temporal lobes:

• process sound sensed by our rate 
• interpreted in auditory cortex
• NOT LATERALIZED
• contains Wernike's area: interprets written and spoken speech
• Wernike's aphasia: unable to understand language; the syntax and grammar jumble 

Brain plasticity: the idea that the brain, when damaged, will attempt to find new ways to reroute messages

Corpus callosum: bridge of nerve fibers that connects or divides the two hemispheres

Cerebrum: 

-largest part of the brain

-divided into left and right hemisphere and divided into lobes

-also contains the cerebral cortex (the gray matter)

-controls voluntary movement, coordinates mental activity, and its the center for all conscious living

The Nervous System

The nervous system: it starts with an individual cell called a neuron

How does a neuron fire?

-resting potential: slightly negative charge

-reach the threshold when enough neurotransmitters reach dendrites

-go into action potential (firing)

The all or none response: the idea that either the neuron fires it or does not

-no part firing 

-like a gun

Neurotransmitters: are chemical messengers that are released by internal buttons through the synapse

Acetylcholine (ACH): 

• deals with motor movement and memory
• too much and you will...
• too little and you will...
• lack of ACH has been linked to Alzheimer's disease

Dopamine:

• deals with motor movement and alertness
• lack of dopamine had been linked to Parkinson's disease
• too much had been linked to schizophrenia

Serotonin: 

• involved in mood control
• lack of serotonin had been linked to clinical depression

Endorphins: 

• involved in pain control
• many do most addictive drugs deal with endorphins

Drugs can be...

• agonists: make neuron fire
• antagonists: stop neural firing
• reuptake inhibitors: block neurotransmitters from entering the neyron

Norepinephrine: helps control alertness and arousal. An undersupply can lead to depression, an oversupply can lead to manic symptoms

GABA (gamma-aminobutytic acid): major inhibitory neurotransmitters. An undersupply can lead to tremors, seizures, and insomnia

Glutamate: major excitatory neurotransmitters; involved in memory. Oversupply can overstimulate the brain leading to migraine (this is ehy some people avoid MSG in food)

Types of neurons

1. Sensory neurons (adherent neurons): take information from the senses to the brain
2. Inter neurons: take messages from sensory neurons to other parts of the brain or to motor neurons
3. Motor neurons (efferent neurons): take information from brain to the rest of the body 

Central nervous system: spinal cord and brain 

Peripheral nervous system: 

• all nerves that are not encased in bone 
• everything but the brain and spinal cord
• is divided into two categories...somatic and autonomic

Somatic nervous system: 

• controls voluntary muscle movement
• uses motor (efferent) neurons

Autonomic nervous system: controls the automatic functions of the body 

• divided into two categories...the sympathetic and the parasympathetic

Sympathetic nervous system:

• flight or fight response
• automatically accelerate heart rate, breathing, dilated pupils, slow down digestion

Parasympathetic nervous system:

• automatically slows the body down after a stressful event
• heart rate and breathing slow down, pupils constrict and digestion speeds up

Reflex: normally sensory (afferent) neurons take info up through spine to the brain 

-some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach the spinal cord

The endocrine system: a system of glands that secrete hormones

-similar to nervous system, except hormones work a lot slower than neurotransmitters

Emotion

Emotion: response of the whole organism
-psysiological arousal
-expressive behaviors
-conscious experience

James Lange theory of emotion: experience of emotion is awareness if physiological response to emotion arousing stimuli

Cannon-bard theory of emotion: emotion arousing stimuli
simultaneously trigger:

• physiological responses 
• subjective experience of emotion

Schachter's two factor theory: to experience emotion one must:

• be physically aroused
• cognitively label the arousal

Polygraph: machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies

• measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion 
• perspiration
• cardiovascular
• breathing changes

Catharsis:

• emotional release
• hypothesis
• "releasing aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Feel good, do good phenomenon: tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Adaptation level phenomenon: tendency to form judgments relative to a "neutral" level 

• brightness of lights 
• volume of sound
• level of income
• defined by our prior experience

Relative deprivation: perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compared oneself

Intrinsic/Extrinsic

Intrinsic motivators: rewards we wget internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction

Extrinsic motivators: reward that earn for accomplishments from outside ourselves (grades or money, etc)
-work great in the short run

Over justification effect: promising a reward for doing something you like to do results in you seeking the reward as the motivation for performing the task
-this tends to diminish the intrinsic m motivation to do something

Management Theory

Theory X: mangers believes that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment

• think employees are extrinsically motivated
• only interested in Maslow's lower needs

Theory Y: managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this internal notice

• interested in Maslow's higher needs

Motivators

Intrinsic motivators: rewards we get internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction

Extrinsic motivators: reward for accomplishments from outside ourselves (grades or money, etc..)
-work great in short run

Overjustification effect: promising a reward for doing something you like to do results in you seeking the reward as the motivation for performing the task
-this tends to diminish the intrinsic motivation to do something

Theory X: managers believes that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment
-think employees are extrinsically motivated
-only interest in maslow's lower needs

Theory Y: managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this internal notice
-interested in maslow's higher needs

Social conflict situations
1. approach-approach-2 positive outcomes (can only pick one)
2. avoidance-avoidance-2 negative outcomes (can only pick one)
3.approach-avoidance-both options have positive and negative outcomes
4. multiple approach-avoidance-multiple choices, multiple outcomes

Hunger

Hunger does NOT come from our stomach, it comes from our brain

Glucose: the form of sugar that circulates in the door provides the major source of energy

• glucose low= hunger
• glucose high = feel full
• the hormone insulin converts glucose to fat

Lateral hypothalamus: when stimulated it makes you hungry 

-when lesioned (destroyed) you will never be hungry again

Ventromedial hypothalamus: when stimulated you feel full

-when lesioned, you will never feel full again

There are several environmental factors that affect out hunger

1. Availability of food
2. Learned preference and habits
3. Stress

Set point theory: the hypothalamus acts like a thermostat

• wants to maintain a stable weight
• activate the lateral and when you diet and activate the ventromedial when you start to gain weight

Bulimia  nervosa: characterized by binging (eating large amounts of food) and purging (getting rid of the food)

Anorexia nervosa: starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight 

• see themselves as fat
• vast majority are women

Obesity: severely overweight to the point where it causes health issues

• mostly eating habits but some people are predisposed towards obesity

Motivation and Emotion

Motivation: a psychological process that directs and maintains your behavior toward a goal

Motives: are the needs, wants, interests, and desires that propel or drive people in certain directions

Instinct theory: we are motivated by our inborn automated behaviors
-but instincts only explain why we do a small fraction of our behaviors

Biological motives
-hunger
-thirst
-sex
-sleep

Social motives:
-achievement
-order
-play
-autonomy
-affiliation

Drive theory: biological internal motivation (homeostasis)

Incentive theory: environmental motivation (not as much homeostasis, more outside factors)

Drive reduction theory: when individuals experience a need or drive, they're motivated to reduce that need or drive
-drive theories assume that people are always trying to reduce internal tension
-therefore drive theories believe that the source of motivation lies within the person (not from the environment)

Aggression/Attraction

Aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
-in the us, we are much more likely to be murdered compared to most other developed nations

Biology of aggression:
-genetics
-neural influences (is aggression in the brain)
-biochemical

Frustration aggressive principle:
-the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal
-creates anger which generates aggression

Conflict: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
-social trap or prisoner's dilemma
-situation where people must choose between an act that is beneficial to themselves but harmful to others and an act that is moderately beneficial to all

5 factors of attraction:
1. Proximity
-geographic nearness
-mere exposure effect: repeated exposure to something breeds liking
-Taiwanese letters
-mirror image concept
2. Reciprocal liking
-you are more likely to like someone who likes you
3. Similarity:
-birds of the same feather flock together
-similarity breeds content
4. Liking through association
-classical conditioning can play a pert in attraction
5. Physical Attractiveness

Passionate love: an aroused state of intense positive absorption of another

Compassionate love: the deep affectionate attachment we feel of those with whom our lives are intertwined

What makes compassionate love work?

• equity: some kind of mutual give and take
• self disclosure: open to people, telling them things about themselves

Altruism: unselfish regard for the welfare of others
-Kitty Genovese case
-bystander effect (bystanders less willing to help if there are other bystanders around)

Social exchange theory: the idea that our social behavior is an exchange process, which we maximize benefits and minimize costs

Peacemaking: give people superordinate (shared) goals that can only be achieved through cooperation
-win win situations through mediation
-GRIT (graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reductions)

Social Relations

Social relations: how do we relate to others?
-attraction
-conflict and prejudice
-alrtruism and peacemaking
-aggression

prejudice: an unjustifiable attitude towards a group of people
-overt
-subtle
-usually involves stereotyped beliefs    

Stereotype: generalized belief about a group of people

In-group: "us"; people with whom one shares a common identity

Out-group: "them"; those perceived as different than one's in-group

In-group bias: tendency to favor one's own group

Social Influence

Conformity: adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Conditions that strengthen conformity
-one is made to feel incompetent
-group is at least 3 people
-group is unanimous
-one admires the group's status
-one had made no pitot commitment
-the person is observed

Reasons for conforming:
Normative social influence: influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment

Informational social influence: influence resulting from ones willingness to accept others opinions about reality

Group influence on behavior
Social facilitation: improved performance of tasks in the presence of others
-occurs with simple or well learned tasks
-not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered

Yerkes-Dodson law: there is an optimal level of arousal for the best performance of any task;
-easy tasks-relatively high
-difficult tasks-low arousal
-other tasks-moderate level

Social loafing: the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were indicidually accountable

Deindividuation: the loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Group polarization: the concept that a group's attitude is one of extremes and rarely moderate

group think: the mode of thinking that occurs then the desire for harmony in a decision making group overrides common sense

self fulfilling prophecies: occurs when one person's belief about others leads one to act in way that induce the others to appear to confirm the belief

Social Psychology

Social Psychology: the study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another

Social thinking: how we think about one another

Attribution theory: the idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior
-we credit that behavior either to the situation or...
-to the person's disposition
Ex: Was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is just a bad person

Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of person disposition
Ex: how do you view your teacher's behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality other than their profession

Attitudes: a belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something

Do our attitudes guide out actions?
Only if...
-external pressure is minimal
-we are aware of our attitudes
-the attitude is relevant to the behavior

Foot in the door phenomenon: the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Door in face phenomenon: the tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one

Zimbardo prison study: role playing affects attitudes. What do you think happened when college students were made to take on the roles of prison guards and inmates

Cognitive dissonance theory: we do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions
-when they clash, we will change our attitudes